Uncontested, the winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes in January at Oaklawn, emerged from a March 2 work in good order, and plans for his next start are being discussed with owners Harry Rosenblum and Bob LaPenta, trainer Wayne Catalano said this week. The Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on March 18 at Oaklawn is one of those options, and another is the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass on April 8 at Keeneland.
The Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot got a boost last weekend when Gunnevera, who won the race in November, captured the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. In addition, J Boys Echo, who was fourth in the Jackpot, came back to capture the Gotham at Aqueduct.
Chris Warren, director of racing for Delta, hopes the results will lead to a higher grade for the 1 1/16-mile race that in the past has been won by such horses as Exaggerator, Big Drama, and Goldencents. He said the results of last weekend’s Kentucky Derby preps were meaningful for Delta.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It Tiz Well has come to Oaklawn Park from her base at Santa Anita in search of Kentucky Oaks qualifying points. She will be one of the top contenders Saturday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Honeybee, which drew a field of 11 when entries were taken Wednesday.
The Honeybee, at 1 1/16 miles, carries 85 eligibility points for the Kentucky Oaks. The points are to be divided among the top four finishers 50-20-10-5.
Trainer Al Stall started the Fair Grounds meet on fire, and after an inevitable cooling-off period, he has maintained an excellent strike rate. Through last Sunday, Stall had won with 25 of his 86 starters at the meet, a 29 percent win rate.
Stall, who has been the leading trainer twice at Fair Grounds, won’t come near his career-best Fair Grounds win total, 42 in 1997-98, but if his stable’s form holds, he’ll finish the season at his home track with his highest win percentage since that meet. Stall, too, has been a boon to his backers, producing a $2.31 return on investment.
With four racing weeks remaining in the 2016-17 Fair Grounds meet, the race for leading trainer is up for grabs. Through Sunday, six trainers each had 22 to 31 winners at the meet, all of them one hot streak away from a title.
Brad Cox has been atop the leaderboard much of the winter and still has a meet-best 31 winners, but no Fair Grounds barn has been rolling like Steve Asmussen’s.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Leon Blusiewicz turned 86 last month. Blusiewicz acknowledges that he’s not as strong as he used to be despite swimming and riding a stationary bicycle every day, but he’s still as ambitious.
“I’m prehistoric,” Blusiewicz said. “I’d never thought I’d last this long. I’ve had a good life, had a lot of fun, met a lot of nice people. The game’s been good to me.”
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – High Ridge Road, the winner of the Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie at Laurel Park on Feb. 18, returned to the work tab Wednesday, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.02 over the Belmont Park training track.
Trainer Linda Rice said she moved the work up a few days to take advantage of a training track that she felt was in good shape.
Trainer Bret Calhoun has the probable favorites in a pair of Friday night stakes races at Sam Houston in More Than Most and Kat’s Infatuation. More Than Most will be looking for her fifth career stakes victory in the $50,000 San Jacinto, while Kat’s Infatuation brings a strong last-race Beyer Speed Figure into the $50,000 Bara Lass.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Cautious Giant, who was claimed for $62,500 on March 2, was withdrawn from consideration for Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on Wednesday after he failed to train well that morning, owner Ron Paolucci and trainer Bob Hess Jr. said.
Cautious Giant was supplemented to the Big Cap for $15,000 last Saturday.
“He was a little sluggish when he went to the track,” Paolucci said. “If he wasn’t perfect, I won’t run him. I thought he had a shot.”
In a text message, Hess described Cautious Giant as “flat” in a morning gallop.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Zapperkat missed the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita last November after undergoing surgery to have a bone chip removed from a knee. Her connections hope Zapperkat can start in another leading race for the division – the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 5 – if she runs well in an optional claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Friday and then in an April prep for the Oaks.
